Expanded Employee Benefits Have Expired. What Happens Now?

The Families First Coronavirus Act expired on Dec. 31, 2000. This program provided extra paid sick leave and family medical leave during the Coronavirus pandemic. With the expiration of these key employee benefits, the U.S. Department of Labor has announced new guidance rules.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has announced additional guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions that addresses whether workers who did not use their leave entitlement under the FFCRA in 2020 may use such leave after Dec. 31, 2020. It also explains how WHD will maintain its enforcement authority over employers’ leave responsibilities while the FFCRA’s paid leave requirements were in effect, even after these leave entitlements have expired.

Additionally, the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2021, extended employer tax credits for paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave voluntarily provided to employees until March 31, 2021.  However, the CAA did not extend employees’ entitlement to FFCRA leave beyond Dec. 31, 2020, meaning employers will no longer be legally required to provide such leave.

“The Wage and Hour Division is attuned to the critical need for American workers and employers to understand this relief program as they deal with the effects of this crisis on the workplace,” said Wage and Hour Division Administrator Cheryl Stanton. “The guidance we issued today provides clarity around some of the novel issues that the FFCRA’s expiration raises. We remain committed to providing as many tools and as much information as possible to all parties.”

The FFCRA helps the U.S. combat and defeat the workplace effects of the coronavirus by giving tax credits to American businesses with fewer than 500 employees to provide employees with paid leave, either for certain of the employee’s own health needs or to care for family members, for certain reasons related to COVID-19. Please visit WHD’s “Quick Benefits Tips” for information about how much leave workers are qualified to use, and the wages employers were required to pay. By extending these tax credits to employers who voluntarily provide FFCRA leave, the CCA enables employers to provide paid leave, while at the same time ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus.

WHD provides updated information on its website to ensure that workers and employers have the information they need about the benefits and protections of this law. The agency also provides information on common issues employers and employees face when responding to the coronavirus and its effects on wages and hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act and on job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.

WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation’s workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act, including the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. For more information about the laws enforced by WHD, call 866-4US-WAGE, or visit www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.

For further information about the coronavirus, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.